Ann Sharp

Artist Statement
I paint to learn. That makes each painting I do a challenge. Whether I am creating a landscape, portrait or still life, the confrontation is never easy but always exciting. As the endless number of two-dimensional images on our computers, printed media, televisions, and cell phones, simply report the visual facts, I find that isn’t enough for me. Instead, I focus on composition, expressiveness, translation and metaphor. Less is more so every stroke becomes important.
Each painting I do brings me closer to my goals. Each painting teaches me something new. Each painting helps me grow as an artist.

I am a West Virginia artist transplanted from Santa Fe, NM. My background includes an art degree from the University of Maryland, Founding President of the Talbot County Visual Art Center and former owner of the Studio Gallery in Easton Maryland. I have been painting professionally for 15 years. I studied with Tony Ryder attending his nine-month Atelier to better my skills as a portrait painter. I am the West Virginia Ambassador to the Portrait Society of America.

Education: BS University of MD applied design, MS University of MD Business. Attended a nine-month Atelier with Anthony Ryder in Santa Fe, NM.

Recent shows: Chestertown Art League: won Best Oil Painting: Portrait Society of America and the New Mexico Art League Portrait Show, Albuquerque, NM; the Maryland Federation of Art’s “Stroke of Genius” show, Annapolis MD; the Maryland Federation of Art’s “Creative Connections” at Gallery B in Bethesda, MD; Art at the Mill Show at the Burwell-Morgan Mill in Millwood, VA; the Maryland Society of Portrait Painter, Annapolis MD; The Berkeley Arts Work show “Art and Earth Exhibit,” and “Best of West Virginia; ” and currently in Tamarack “Puppy Love” art show in Beckley WV. Maryland portrait society show at Columbia Art Center and Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, MD